TALLAHASSEE — With one hard hit in a game filled with them, Doak Campbell Stadium went from rock concert to morgue.

Thanks to a tackle and subsequent fumble that firmly implanted Florida State quarterback EJ Manuel into the turf like he had just been run over by a two-ton tractor trailer, the life inside the Seminoles’ brick-encased cathedral was completely zapped late Saturday evening.

It remained that way until the stadium’s scoreboard clock read 0:00 for the final time this fall, and the visiting team had more points than the home side for the first time this season.

The loss was the Seminoles’ (10-2) first in the rivalry in three years. It also was the first loss they had at home this year. Entering the contest, FSU, on average, had been outscoring visiting opponents, 54-9. Despite being outranked in the BCS -- 10 to 4 -- the Seminoles were more than a touchdown favorite over the Gators.

“We didn’t play well,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said.

Those four words may have been the understatement of the season for the third-year coach who enters the postseason with a team that has battered egos, bruised bodies and an all-important game against an opponent that will look to secure an upset.

Next weekend, FSU’s season continues when it travels to Charlotte, N.C. for the ACC championship against Georgia Tech. FSU is 1-1 all-time in the conference title game. The Yellow Jackets (6-6) are, as well, even though their lone win isn’t formally recognized after the ACC stripped it due to a recent NCAA investigation.

When FSU and Tech meet, the teams will be playing for the first time since their dramatic, back-and-forth, weather-altered contest in Tallahassee in 2009. The Jackets won, 49-44.

Much like that see-saw affair, the momentum Saturday night shifted often. Structured like a syncopated, arrhythmic basketball game, the rivalry contest was one built upon runs.

“That game was all momentum,” Fisher said. “If you look at the game, [the Gators] started off good and they controlled the first downs.”

The Gators (11-1) also controlled the line of scrimmage. Racking up 244 yards rushing, they moved the Seminoles’ vaunted top-ranked defense around like rag dolls. Holes against FSU opened up more than they had all year. Bodies were thrown around like they didn’t weigh a thing.

Asked what led to Florida’s ground game success, Fisher plainly and abruptly said, “they blocked us.”

That wasn’t all the Gators did. At times, their own highly-touted defense pushed around FSU’s offense like it wasn’t even on the field.

Most notably, with about 11 minutes left in the physical game, Gators linebacker Antonio Morris bullied his way around Seminoles blockers and smacked a scrambling, pocket-escaping Manuel on a blow that left the quarterback rolling slowly on the ground in pain for two minutes. Initially, it appeared Manuel’s helmet was struck by the low-flying defender.

According to Fisher, the fifth-year senior, playing in his final home game, had lost his wind. Trainers evaluated him on the sideline to check for broken ribs and other possible injuries to his torso, Fisher said.

“I got hit in the head, so it just kind of knocked the wind out of me,” Manuel said.

Trainers spent more than 15 minutes evaluating the quarterback on the sideline. A concussion was ruled out. With about six minutes left in the ballgame, back he went.

“He’s one of our leaders and I personally look up to EJ,” sophomore tailback James Wilder Jr. said. “With this being his last home game, we wanted to make sure we came out here and tried to do what we could for this last home game.”

That’s part of the reason Manuel insisted he go back in the game.

“He’s not a quitter, you know?” defensive end Bjoern Werner said. “He came back and he tried to do his hardest.”

Werner had a third-quarter fumble return that set up a go-ahead FSU score and helped spark one of the Seminoles’ few momentous runs.

Long before the hit, Manuel looked out of sorts. Rushed constantly, he threw three interceptions — his most in a game since he had three against Maryland as a redshirt freshman in 2009 — and had the fumble on the hit that knocked him briefly out of the ballgame.

“That was not one of his more stellar performances,” Fisher said. “We have to do a better job of coaching him.”

When asked where the blame of the loss should go, Manuel succinctly said: “I would put it on myself.”

Fisher added that Manuel was emotional before and during the game because he understood how big the implications of the contest were. In a brief pregame ceremony, the senior was celebrated with other veterans as part of FSU’s Senior Day festivities.

“He wanted to play very well, very badly,” Fisher said. “Sometimes you try too hard.”